Hand Rubbed Hash

Although not as productive as dry sifting or making water hash, hand rubbing is the most basic method of separating the medicinal trichome heads from the body of the plant. This important step is at the center of the constitutional challenge that I took to the Supreme Court of Canada in March of 2015. By separating the medicinal ingredients from the inert bulk of the plant, it is easy to produce a variety of edible and topical cannabis products for the wide-range of conditions that patients who use medical cannabis suffer from.

When one approaches a mature cannabis plant, it appears to be covered by a fine layer of whitish fuzz; when you get closer you see the fuzz looks more like a dense mat of small mushrooms. The mushroom caps (trichome heads) are sticky resin glands designed to catch pollen from male cannabis plants in order to reproduce. While the female plant matures, she produces more and more resin in an attempt to increase her chances of reproduction. The skilled gardener will ensure that the males and females remain apart so that no seeds are produced.

(close up view of the resinous trichome heads)

The thickening layer of medicinal resin will stick to anything that touches it and easily separate with a little friction. As you further fondle the flower clusters and resin covered foliage, the trichome heads will burst, releasing the encapsulated resin. The sticky resin will accumulate on your fingers until it becomes a dark malleable tar. This is an incidental form of extraction that occurs while the plant is being manicured. Often called “finger hash”, the collected resin will soon coat a pair of scissor blades, gloves and or a table top with the soft black tar, requiring a sharp edge to scrape it into shapes (commonly a ball or brick).

This method has persisted in cannabis fields across mountainsides in India, or under the African sun in Morocco or Malawi from ancient times up to the present day. This is the main method of resin collection in Nepal, where the cannabis plant has long been revered. Hand rubbing can draw the resins from a living plant without damaging it several times throughout the growing season, allowing the resin to regenerate. Interestingly, this gentle practice fits the concept of respecting all living beings that is inherent in Tibetan Buddhism.

(a Nepalese Temple Ball)

The resin provides the plant with protection from wind, low humidity and Ultra Violet radiation. At higher altitudes, where cannabis produces more of this protective layer, hand rubbed hash is known to offer a notable aroma and potency and is referred to as “cream”. Photo-Journalist Laurence Cherniak in his “Great Books of Hashish” documents the production of Nepalese Temple Balls which often include other medicinal plant resins such as opium.

If you would like to support the constitutional challenge to allow patients to access medicinal cannabis extracts please visit the Fundraising page; share it with your peers and donate if you are able.

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I have been writing for the Cannabis Digest since 2009, covering topics related to medical cannabis with a focus on alternative cannabis therapies. My articles are closely related to the constitutional challenge i helped to launch in response to charges i received while making edible and topical cannabis medicines for members of the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club. I cover the details of our successful challenge while comparing and contrasting with medical cannabis movement around the world.
I also create graphic art http://s413.beta.photobucket.com/user/rainbowensmyth/profile/
and write short stories sacredstorytelling.bandcamp.com
As well as DJ www.mixcloud.com/Rizeohm/the-drugwar-assault-mix
and produce electronic music rizeohm.bandcamp.com/